1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of packaging for shipment, conservation and point of sale display of fresh flowers in a retail facility having no equipment or personnel to care for the flowers until they are sold. It includes special apparatus for the conservation of fresh flower during shipment by keeping them hydrated. But hydration cannot be done with just water in a container because such a configuration is very prone to leakage. That is because the realities of courier shipment are that the shipping containers are not maintained in an upright position. Hydration is maintained by soaking a florist's foam with water and inserting the cut flower stems therein. The foam retains the water but at the same time makes it accessible to the cut flower stems regardless of the orientation of the shipping container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention relates packaging used for the international shipment of fresh cut flowers within the flower industry, especially during the post harvest stages of storage, conservation, shipment and exhibition of fresh flowers to the public. In the prior art commercial fresh flowers have been packaged from their harvest until their display in commercial points of sale in a manner that causes rapid deterioration such that their vase lives are substantially diminished.
When fresh flowers are shipped from their country of origin, such as Colombia, to both the main cities and remote towns of another country, such as the United States, the conditions of storage, conservation and shipping are even more demanding than when shipment is to a central flower market, or wholesaler. In the former situation, the conditions of storage, conservation and shipment must be all the more carefully planned and controlled to achieve success in the acceptance of these flowers by the trade, and the final consumer. Furthermore, if the fresh flowers are delivered to point of sale retailers who employ people inexperienced in the care and display of fresh flowers, is an additional problem, which can lead to further deterioration of their state.
In the prior art, there has been certain packages for fresh flowers, which allow for their conservation and transport within the same country. In the United States, for example, there are packages that include water buckets, which are transported in refrigerated trucks. Fresh flowers in buckets of water are deemed to be perishables. However, it is not practical to use the above mentioned method when the flowers are being shipped internationally such as from Colombia to the United States, due to the difficulty of transporting products containing water (high shipping costs to attempt to maintain the shipping containers in an upright posit a d restrictions from the shippers to transport water).
As an illustration, of the foregoing, one of the prior art methods of shipment is in packages made up of a plastic container, a cardboard caller and a lid with many openings. The method uses water in the container requiring upright shipping, and requires ground transportation in refrigerated trucks and handling for perishables. Thus it is only applicable for wholesalers and retailers with a perishables distribution center. See www.primrose-flowers.com/pt_procona.html. It is thus way more expensive than the present invention and has much more limited use.
Additionally, there are a great number of potential points of sale that cannot be served because they either are not equipped to handle perishables, or the costs associated with such shipping makes such sales not financially viable.
In the prior art, fresh flowers shipped internationally are usually shipped dry, because, as explained above, shipping in containers of water is not practical. Therefore, when flowers ship from Columbia to the United States arrive in the United States they must either be immediately placed in buckets of water and treated as perishables, or they must be quickly delivered to consumers dry. The cut flowers placed in water are then delivered in refrigerated trucks in water and treated as perishables to such retailers as florists or some larger retail outlets such as Walmart, where there are personnel equipped to handle perishables. However, not all Walmart location are so equipped.
When flowers shipped internationally arrive in the United States they can be delivered to central flower markets or to some retailers like some locations of Walmart where they can be immediately placed in water buckets. They need to unpack, cut the stems, place them in buckets of water and exhibition of them in their shelves, all of which affects the final quality and the final cost of the flowers, not to mention that these packages are trashed and cannot be recycled.
One other option is to hydrate flowers individually by the use of little cups or bags attached to each flower stem separately. This is very expensive and thus not practical for even bouquets of flowers.